LOL, WTF: Preet Bharara Is Now A Blogger

Famed Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara was fired by the president a few months back, and ever since the chattering class has been speculating about his next move. Now we know, and for the time being, it’s not running for governor. Nay, Bharara, scourge of corrupt politicians and small-time Bronx drug dealers (but not Wall Streeters), is becoming a blogger.

The New York Times reports that Preet is joining his brother Vinit’s media company Some Spider Studios, specifically, by writing for the news and culture site Cafe and hosting a podcast with the groan-inducing title “Stay Tuned With Preet.” The Times writes that Bharara plans to discuss legal issues, including in-depth analysis of specific cases.

Preet Bharara has been active as a singer mill on Twitter since his firing by Trump, directing much of his dad humor towards the president’s possible obstructing the investigation into Russian meddling in the election. If the overnight internet sensations of the last few months are any indication (Hi Eric Garland) that is one surefire way to build a media brand.

Vinit Bharara, 45 and three years Preet’s junior, founded Cafe in 2014. He’s rich from starting an e-commerce site called Diapers.com and then selling it on Amazon for around $540 million. Some Spider, Cafe’s parent company, has attracted top talent in its short tenure so far, including a creative director from Buzzfeed, an executive from Fusion, and the chief technology officer of the New York Times.
On Cafe, Preet wrote in an announcement:

I am excited for a number of reasons beyond the presumed job security that derives from working for your sibling. First, it is an opportunity at this extraordinary moment in history to add my voice to both classic and current-day debates about justice and fairness in the law, government, and society. It is a natural extension of everything that has led me to this point.

Second, it is a chance to speak with considerable editorial space and freedom, with the benefit of a platform that permits more than 140 characters at the time. Finally, it is a privilege to work alongside a fearless and visionary entrepreneur like my brother, Vinit, who defied the odds to create an exceptional company like Quidsi with Some Spider investor Marc Lore, our high school classmate. This enterprise will be no different and that is a thrilling thing to be a part of.

Henrich, in a blog post titled “Playing With Fire,” cautions that a peak may be at hand and that the subsequent unraveling, when and if it comes, could leave yield-hungry investors swirling in a world of hurt. Why is Henrich so unnerved, with a plodding race to the top for markets presumably lining investors’ pockets? He cites, in part, distortions created by central banks, which arguably have buoyed the market’s enthusiasm on the way up, but may slowly be unwinding accommodative policies, at least in the U.S., to the peril of some.

As I’ve said earlier this year tops are processes and they take time and this here is no exception. But so far the only surprises have been the unprecedented levels of central bank intervention and the resulting low levels of volatility. But people chasing into overpriced stocks in the hopes of even grander returns? That’s standard fare in any topping process. And invariably when you play with fire you risk getting burned.
The blogger and market technician says a move for the S&P 500 above 2,450 — which it hit Monday, and briefly touched on Tuesday — may prove a top and provide a selling opportunity:

Indeed, bond prices and stock values have been moving mostly in the same direction — a relatively strange phenomenon. That’s because of Treasury prices, which move inversely to yields, tend to climb when investors are at their most cautious, fretting about growth and mounting risk, while equities rally on economic optimism.

Government-bond yields have been stubbornly low despite a Federal Reserve that has stridently championed higher rates, and sluggish inflationary signals that have given some market-watchers pause.

On Wednesday, the 10-year Treasury note was at 2.156%, compared with 2.223% on Dec. 17, 2015, the day after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates for the first time in nearly 10 years, and starting its first of four moves since to normalize ultra low yields. Still, rates remain lower despite the Fed’s decision last week to lift its key rates to a range between 1% and 1.25%.

Moreover, the premium between short-dated and long-dated bonds have narrowed, typically signaling a bearish outlook for the U.S. economy, despite the Fed’s more sanguine view. On Wednesday, the spread between the five-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD05Y, -0.09% and the 30-year Treasury bond TMUBMUSD30Y, -0.30% held at its narrowest since November 2007 at 95.6 basis points, according to WSJ Market Data Group.